As Gaza death toll rises, Israel faces pressure to protect Palestinian civilians
Gaza as the death toll rose and fighting intensified between Israeli forces and Hamas militants near and around hospitals.
Global calls for Israeli restraint increased as the number of Palestinians killed rose above 11,000 in a five-week-old Israeli bombardment launched against Hamas in retaliation for its deadly Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel.
In his strongest comments to date on the plight of civilians caught in the Gaza cross-fire, U.S.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on a visit to India on Friday: «Far too many Palestinians have been killed; far too many have suffered these past weeks.»
Blinken welcomed daily four-hour humanitarian pauses by Israel that the White House announced on Thursday and said more action was needed to safeguard Gaza's civilians. But he reaffirmed U.S.
support for Israel's campaign to ensure that Gaza can no longer be used «as a platform for launching terrorism.»
French President Emmanuel Macron, in a BBC interview published late on Friday, said Israel must stop bombing Gaza and killing civilians. France, he said, «clearly condemns» the «terrorist» actions of Hamas, but that while recognising Israel's right to protect itself, «we do urge them to stop this bombing» in Gaza.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said world leaders should be condemning Hamas, and not Israel.
